This was how we spent our Saturday night:...watching the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert in 3D. The girls loved it, although we could hardly hear the tv because Arissa was singing along at the top of her lungs...she knows every word of every single song! :O)

This is the "casket" that Arissa made for our first mouse who lost his life. I thought it was so cute, the picture she drew of him:

note: please forgive the background in the pictures to come. I used a cute fabric as the background, but in trying to photograph the full subject, I got some grass in the shot and forgot to crop it before I uploaded and it kind of distracts from the shot! Oops.And then on Saturday Jesse was nice enough to take the girls to the park and to his Grandma's to visit, so I got to do some sewing and finish up some projects. I have a list of like 9 friends who either have had babies in the last two months, or are due to give birth in the next two months. So I am kind of frantic to churn out lots of baby gifts. I made a bunch of these....I bought some cute fabric, and used "fusable webbing" to fuse it to the onesie, then I stitched around it. And I'm making matching crocheted ruffled hats to go with:

Also, I made these little guys which I love. They're fast, easy, and cute. The turtle is a little raggedy already because he was my first one and the girls played with him rough and tested my stitching....which I had to improve before I give any as gifts:

And finally, I'm in love with these next guys. I got the idea off a website I browse frequently, so I cut a quick pattern and tried to make my own. The pink/red one is the first one I did, which you can tell by the funny-shaped nose, messy seams, and bad stitching. But even so, I love the fabric so much that I'm keeping him. But as I made a few more, I corrected my mistakes and improved my technique a little:Arissa, Mariah, and Mallory also loved these. And they assumed, sicne I made three of them, that I must have made them for them! But like I said I have numerous babies that I need to give gifts to, so after I churn out a bunch of these, I'll make some for my girls. Maybe let them choose the fabric too, they like that. :O)

These pictures are great. They totally capture the effect that Jesse has on people....without even trying, he is HILARIOUS and is constantly cracking us up. Most of the time it's just me & the girls, but he does have this effect on other people too. Arissa and I are most susceptible to it for some reason. At times he just says a word or two and we almost can't breathe from laughing so hard!

Yesterday after we got home from work, and I sat down on the couch to do some knitting, Arissa comes in from outside and says "Mommy? Does Blossom sleep with her mouth and eyes open?"

Jesse ran outside and found Blossom laying in the grass, and she had passed on. He held her and loved her. Then we found a box, and laid a blanket in it for her. I had sewn a heart shaped pillow the other day for a friend, but we put it in the box for Blossom to rest her head on.

Before burying her, we put in the box w/ her: a picture of us, her kitty treats, and some flowers. Then we took her over to my Grandma's and Jesse buried her under the Tangerine tree where many other East family pets are laid to rest. We all said our final goodbyes, then Jesse closed the grave and we laid flowers on top.

Poor Jesse took it the hardest. He came to love Blossom, and he's spent the past 9 years loving her and taking care of her. She used to sleep next to him every single night. Granted, many times she slept on his head and he had to keep pushing her off, but still they had a routine together.

Mallory also took it hard. Blossom came to be her special pet, she dragged her around and cuddled her and played with her. She cried for a good 5 minutes when we broke the news.

I admit, I am happy and relieved to be able to throw out the kitty litter box and never have to clean it again. But, Blossom represents to me, one of the few connections to my childhood. Well I shouldn't say few, I'm fortunate to have several actually, but to me Blossom connects my memory to my childhood home, so many events, and to my mom. In fact, when my mom was sick and bed-ridden, Blossom laid on her lap for days. Whenever I was sick, she would come to me and rub her head on me to comfort me. And so even though I often wondered why she seemed to be immortal and feared I would never be rid of that kitty-litter, I will miss her dearly.

Here are some pictures from yesterday:

This is Jesse & Arissa right after we laid Blossom in the box, before taking her over to the burial grounds (aka Nana's):

The pillow, with a little of her drool on it from the ride over to Nana's. I had made it for a friend who's name starts w/ an "M"....so for the pillow's final purpose, Jesse decided to "M" stands for "MEOW":Mallory & Mariah paying their respects and laying flowers at the grave:

1. you drive to the far ends of the county at 9pm because all the other stores you called didn't have what you needed....

then

2. you brave the Wal-Mart crowds during their busiest time of day/night....

then

3. you clambor over the other parents and crazed little girls that are hounding the Wal-mart employees just to get 5 pairs of free 3D glasses, so that on Saturday night your family can pop popcorn, gather round the tv and watch this:

Yesterday Arissa & Nana finally came home! We spent all day Saturday getting ready for their return....we cleaned the house, especially the girls' room, I made Arissa's bed all nice and arranged her things, we worked on our "welcome home sign", bought a mouse to replace the one that had been eaten because we told Arissa we'd have a new one by the time she got home, and we washed Nana's car.

We got to the airport like an hour early, as soon as we got out of the car Mallory hoisted the sign up in the air and insisted on holding it like that the whole time, even though I explained there was no need until at least the plane had landed. But she was insistant, and everyone who passed complimented the girls on the sign they had colored (it's hard to see in the photos, but I did the words and then Mallory & Mariah added lots of coloring to the empty spaces).

Then we waited....and waited.....the plane was to land at 12:04 and was "on time", so by 12:20 we were wondering where the heck they were. Then I realized my Grandma was probably waiting until every other single person was off the plane before she and Arissa even got up, so that she wouldn't have to be rushed or be in someone's way. So FINALLY we spotted them and we waived and jumped....I had to restrain myself not to scream, because Jesse pointed out you can't mess around at the airport or the security might have taken me down! Then they came down the escalator and it was hugs hugs & more hugs! We drove Nana home and Arissa gave her sisters the gifts she had gotten them....a Princess and a Dora shirt that talk and light up when you press a certain spot. So cool.

Arissa is so, so TAN!!! I could not believe it. She said that she went swimming every single day she was there. She had so much fun, everyone there kept her busy and made sure she got to do every fun thing that Ogden & Salt Lake have to offer! Her cousin that she spent the night with a few nights & went to an amusement park with one of the days, her mother took lots of pictures apparently and put them on a cd for me, so I'll post those when I get them (after Arissa unpacks!).

Poor Jesse hardly ever gets credit for the good things he does, so I really felt like I can't NOT post about this.

Part 1: Our fridge broke about a week ago, the freezer was frosting over and the fridge would not keep cold. All the food spoiled, we couldn't keep milk or anything perishable. That makes cooking kind of hard! But we also knew we could NOT afford to have someone come fix it. So Jesse went to the internet and tried a few different things he read about, but nothing worked. Our friend Gary told us the same thing had happened to him, and what his apartment's handyman had done to fix it. So at about 7:30pm, Jesse took everything out of the whole fridge & freezer. He took out every shelf, every drawer. Then he took both doors off, and then he took the back off of it or something, and took out the electronics. By 10pm when I went to bed, the kitchen was full of pieces of fridge, you couldn't even walk in there. He said we' have to let it sit and defrost for awhile.

Part 2: I had a potluck the following day @ work for which I had to bring croissants. Neither of us have any money at the moment, so I just figured I'd face the music when I got to work and feel guilty all day.

Part 3: At the last minute that night we decided to switch days that the girls go to preschool because they were going to have "water day" the following day. So by the next day, they needed their swimsuits and towels washed. Jesse said he'd wash them.

So bottom line, when I went to bed, I almost dreaded waking up because I knew that I was going to wake up and have to climb over pieces of fridge in the kitchen to get my lunch ready, send the girls to school w/ bath towels instead of their swimming towels because they wouldn't be washed, and then go to work and be "that person" who didn't bring what they signed up to bring for the potluck.

So imagine my surprise when I got up and saw that not only was the fridge put back together, but it was WORKING. And there was a fresh new gallon of milk inside (because I'd whined that I hadn't been able to have cereal the past week since it'd been broken). I was amazed. Jesse tends to be the kind of person that even when he does feel motivated to start a project, feels perfectly fine leaving it out and half finished for weeks on end. So I figured our kitchen would be un-usable for several days, if not weeks. I was shocked.

Then I looked on the table, and there were croissants for me to take to the potluck. I guess he'd gone out after he fixed the fridge and bought milk & croissants. Then before I left for work, I told him remember to send the girls w/ some kind of towel to use. He said their swimming towels were in the dryer. He had washed.....AND dryed them! I was like "who is this person???". It was incredible.

We joked that all of these amazing things he did were a result of the big meal I had cooked the night before just for him....gravy and all his favorite things. :o)

And yesterday we were without a babysitter, so he stayed home w/ the girls. Mariah had a party at school, but it wasn't their day to go since they'd gone the day before, but Jesse took Mariah just for the party. He took the girls out to breakfast. Mariah didn't feel good for part of the day; he took care of her and gave her medicine. And when I came home, the house was relatively picked up and clean. What a good daddy.

So like I said, he really doesn't usually get credit for many of the great things he does....from me or anyone else. But he IS appreciated and loved!

unfortunately it was so hot, that I only took a few pictures. I was amazed anyone even showed up, it was so hot. We had to have half the party inside in the air conditioning. But it was fun, the girls all liked singing into the microphones and pretending to be a "star":

These are the "backstage passes" that I made...each girl got one of these and a mix cd of some of the songs we played as a party favor:

The following weekend was Arissa's Baptism. It turned out really nice, although it was hard for me to be as prepared as I like to be, because I wasn't sure of how things were supposed to go. But it was really special, Arissa looked beautiful, and I was so happy for her.

And then, a week later, she's gone! She and my grandma flew out Saturday morning to Utah for 2 weeks. Arissa was scared to death of the flight, but she did fine. We walked them up as far as we could, which was only to get their bags checked and up to the security checkpoint. Then we waived goodbye, and the 4 of us remaining drove around to find a place we could try and watch the plane take off. That was hard for two reasons....one, because we got there at 9:15 and the plane didn't leave until 11:33, and also because wherever you're able to park, you can't see the runway. But eventually we found a spot, and we sat there until 11:30 when we saw the Delta plane make it's way onto the runway. Their flight was supposed to be the first Delta one that morning, the next wasn't until 1:30. But there were 2 Delta planes lined up to take off. So we waived and jumped and screamed at both of them, since we weren't sure which one they were on.

Then they were off, and our house seems surprisingly empty with just 4 people instead of 5. A week before they left, I individually wrapped 14 little gifts and mailed them in a package to my Aunt's house where they'll be staying....on each gift is a tag w/ the date for Arissa to open one each day that she's there. I thought maybe that would make her still feel connected to home, cause I know she's going to be a little homesick.

Mariah is actually taking it the hardest though....every 5 minutes it's "why did Arissa have to go to Utah? when will i see my sister? why did she have to leave?". Poor girl. :O)

So the cheer the girls up, we went to SeaWorld that evening. They hadn't gotten to go on the new rides yet (that Arissa, Jesse, & I tried out for the first time on her birthday). They loved every minute of it:

The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.

"I believe in the sun even when it isn't shining, I believe in love even when I don't feel it, & I believe in God even when he is silent."

it's all about:

Just as you may now think, with some amusement, about prior civilizations who thought your earth was flat, there will be others, in the not too distant future, who will reel in disbelief that there was ever a time when abundance wasn't seen as spiritual, where a dream's manifestation wasn't considered inevitable, and that there were multitudes who knew so little of their importance, their power, and of how deeply they were loved.